


The Sky Darkens

by fairywriter



Series: Storms [1]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 22:29:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8596231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairywriter/pseuds/fairywriter
Summary: A young Fíli struggles to protect his little brother when they are separated from their family. Living on their own in the wilderness is hard and dangerous and Fíli is forced to grow up fast... but maybe they can find a home again when an elven prince stumbles on them and takes them home to his father.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love fics that have Fíli and/or Kíli being raised by someone other than their family so this is my contribution to that.
> 
> A note on Fíli and Kíli's ages, I'm not great with dwarf ages but Fíli is the equivalent of 8 - 9 in human years and Kíli is the equivalent of 3 - 4.

Kíli was an especially curious young dwarf, this fact was probably what saved his life. A little blue butterfly had distracted him from his scant breakfast and he smiled happily as it flew above his head, his tiny hands reached out towards it but it flittered up out of his reach and he pouted. As it began to fly away towards the nearby woods Kíli looked at his bowl of gruel and then back at the butterfly. He was hungry but he wanted to know where the butterfly was going, did it have a home it was going back to? Did butterflies live in little houses? Or tents maybe? Kíli was sure that Fíli would know, Fíli knew everything, but Kíli wasn’t sure where his brother was. Papa had taken him out early for some reason that didn’t include Kíli, he had pouted then too, but Mama had promised him that they’d be back soon. Mama was busy now, packing up their things to move on, Kíli may be little but he knew better than to bother her right now. He sat the bowl of gruel down and stood unsteadily, breakfast would be here when he got back, Mama would never let him go hungry after all. He toddled off towards the woods, following the flashes of blue as the butterfly weaved lazily through the trees.

A loud shout startled the young dwarf badly and he jumped than hid behind a tree as screams and the clang of weapons quickly followed. Kíli relaxed a bit, Uncle Thorin and the others must have returned, they were always practicing with their swords, axes, and maces, the sounds were scary but Kíli knew they really just meant that Uncle Thorin and Mr. Dwalin were making sure everyone knew how to protect themselves. Even Fíli had a little knife that he carried everywhere.

“Kíli!” another shout rent the air, this time though Kíli turned towards the terrified voice, it was Mama, why did Mama sound like that? Kíli couldn’t remember her ever sounding anything less than composed, even when he annoyed her so much that she had to scold him, she was never scared, never sad, and rarely angry. Fíli said that she had to be strong and brave because she was a princess, Kíli wasn’t sure what being a princess meant, but he thought Mama would be strong and brave even if she wasn’t one. That was just who she was. He started slowly back towards the camp. He was scared now, what was happening? He didn’t remember there ever being quite so much shouting and screaming when Uncle Thorin and the others would practice. He peeked through the trees in front of him and his eyes widened as he shrank back, he didn’t know what they were, but there were beings in the camp that were not dwarves.

“Kíli!” came another voice, this one much quieter, but no less terrified, than Mama’s had been.

“Fee” Kíli cried as his brother fell to his knees beside him and wrapped him in a tight hug. He still didn’t know what was happening, but he wasn’t as scared anymore, Fíli would always protect him.

 

* * *

 

 

Fíli hugged his little brother fiercely. He had been so afraid when he and Papa had heard the screams and shouting, Fíli was sure that the orcs would be beaten back, but until then he had been told to hide in the woods and he considered himself so very lucky that he had stumbled upon Kíli, Mama must have told him to hide too but the younger dwarf hadn’t gone nearly far enough away from the fighting. Fíli stood quickly with his arms still wrapped around his brother, luckily Kíli was really quite small for his age and Fíli could carry him easily still. Kíli clung to him tightly as he ran. Like all young dwarves his age, Fíli had been taught to leave certain traces so other dwarves would be able to find him if he was lost, or like now, had to flee. But what no one had told Fíli was that it was so very hard to actually flee if you were worrying about whether you’d left enough traces, even worse when you were scared to death and had a younger brother to carry.  
.  
.

 

Darkness had fallen by the time that Fíli actually found someplace safe enough to hide and wait for their parents. He had slowed to a walk after about ten minutes of running and had kept a weather eye for a decent place to stash Kíli where he could easily guard him. He worried that he’d gone too far, but Mr. Balin had stressed multiple times that it was better to go too far than not far enough in situations like this, and Mama and Papa had always promised that they would find him no matter where he had to run. Actually, Uncle Thorin, Mr. Dwalin, and Mr. Balin had always promised the same thing, and Fíli trusted them, he knew they would come, they would come and take care of him and Kíli. Speaking of Kíli, his little brother hadn’t once let up his grip on him, not even when he’d fallen asleep. Fíli felt a surge of protectiveness for Kíli, he knew the younger dwarf trusted him to take care of him, and so Fíli would until they were found. First of all, they needed something to eat, Fíli had learned how to forage from his papa but first he had to set Kíli down in the little nest he’d one-handedly pulled together from moss and fallen leaves. Kíli whimpered slightly as Fíli placed him gently in the small hollow at the center of their hiding place, but he didn’t wake up and Fíli was grateful for that as he pulled some moss over his brother and sprinkled the thing with leaves, it looked fairly natural, as best as Fíli could manage anyway. And it wasn’t like he would be going very far, his own terror had dwindled down to a more manageable fear, but that didn’t change the fact that he wouldn’t be letting Kíli far out of his sight for some time.

.

 

Mushrooms and berries weren’t particular favorites of the young dwarves, but Fíli was very glad that Papa had taught him so much about finding them. Kíli ate them happily enough anyway, of course Kíli would eat practically anything, and he was likely every bit as hungry as Fíli so he probably wouldn’t have complained even if the food had been something green. There was a stream nearby that they drank from then they huddled together and Fíli sang a lullaby softly as Kíli cuddled up next to him. The autumn nights weren’t too cold yet but Fíli had still piled every bit of moss he could find on top of them and he uttered a soft prayer to Mahal that it wouldn’t rain on them, he didn’t fancy having a sick Kíli on top of everything else.

Sleep took him slowly and he jolted awake frequently, checking his brother carefully every time and listening for anything odd, it took him a while to get back to sleep each time.

When morning finally dawned Fíli was even more exhausted than when he’d lain down. Kíli, of course, was not, nor was he the clingy dwarf of the night before. He bounced up excitedly and giggled when Fíli groaned.

“Fee! Wake up! It’s morning and I’m hungry” Kíli exclaimed.

“Ughaga” Fíli mumbled unintelligibly.

“Fíli!” the little monster shouted.

“Alright, alright” Fíli sat up “I’m awake, we’ll find something to eat in a minute” he told his little brother.

“Yay!” Kíli clapped his hands and smiled at Fíli.

His smile warmed Fíli a bit and he grinned back at Kíli. He hoped it wouldn’t be too long before someone came for them. But he was sure they could manage until someone did. After all, it was a bright new day.

 

* * *

 

 

Thorin paced frantically around the campsite, he and the other dwarves had barely returned in time to turn the tide against the orcs, Thorin himself had fought like a dwarf possessed. How could he do anything else, the first thing he’d seen upon entering the camp was the bloody body of his brother in-law, his sister had been the next thing his eyes had fallen on and he had shouted so fearsomely that most of the orcs had quailed before his rage. And now… at least Dís wasn’t yet dead, though what she would say when she awoke to find her husband dead and her sons missing. Thorin shook his head, Fíli… Kíli… they were the light in his life, his hope for the future, and not just the future of his people, he couldn’t imagine his own life without Fíli’s calm smile and the intense way he would listen whenever Thorin spoke. And Kíli? His smile was bright and infectious, even Dwalin would grumpily admit that it was hard not to smile back when Kíli looked at him with those big innocent eyes and an upturned mouth.

“Thorin, the injured are being taken care of, the bodies too” Balin came up to him and placed a hand on his arm to halt his pacing.

“How many of the children have been found?” Thorin asked.

“All but Fíli and Kíli” Balin answered quietly, he shook his head slowly.

“It has been years since we’ve had to worry about orc attacks, men or the occasional wild animal yes, but orcs? Why now?” he wondered.

Thorin shook his head “I don’t know, but we worry about that later, for now though…” he trailed off.

“We stick together as much as possible” Balin agreed.

“Double the usual guards” Thorin ordered “you will be in charge while Dwalin and I look for my nephews”.

“Good luck Thorin” Balin nodded gravely at him.

 

* * *

 

 

“Are we sure these traces are Fíli?” Dwalin asked Thorin as his friend examined the trunk of a tree, they were far into the woods by now, and Dwalin was beginning to wonder if the two young lads could even get this far. Though at least they knew now that Fíli and Kíli were together, the eldest of the two had carved two hasty letters into the trunk of a tree a ways back and Thorin had sighed in relief when he realized that the letters were an “F” and a “K”. But them being together made it even more unlikely, in Dwalin’s eyes anyway, that they could’ve come this far. Kíli was too young to walk all this way by himself and if his older brother was carrying him than he would’ve been absolutely exhausted by this point.

“No, it’s them” Thorin finally replied “I helped to teach Fíli these traces, I would know them anywhere”.

Dwalin nodded sharply “alright, but why are they still running? If one of those filthy orcs was chasing them then Fíli wouldn’t have been able to stop even long enough to leave these traces”.

“He is looking for a safe place to hide, these woodlands are mostly flat, hard to hide in” said Thorin.

“He’s looking for a hollow or a cave then?” Dwalin asked.

“That’s what we taught him” Thorin answered.

“Guess I know now why Dís told me I had to promise I’d find him no matter how far he went, if he asked me that is” Dwalin remarked.

“Did he ask you that?” Thorin asked with a quick glance at his friend.

“Yes, twice actually” Dwalin shook his head “he must have been pretty worried about it”.

The two dwarves moved on slowly.

"He was, he asked all of us about it, more than once” Thorin said “we all promised”.

“We’ll find him” Dwalin tried to reassure his friend.

“We have to. _I_  have to” Thorin whispered so low that Dwalin knew he wasn’t meant to hear it.

 

* * *

 

 

Kíli had, thankfully, fallen asleep soon after their meagre lunch. Fíli had tried his best to entertain his little brother that morning, but Kíli was an exhausting handful most days and this one was no exception. Fíli slipped down into their nest and covered them both with the moss, he needed his sleep too after all.

.  
.

 

The sun had moved down below the tree line when Fíli was jolted awake by a noise nearby. His heart leapt ‘Papa!’ he thought happily as he turned to Kíli or, more accurately, where Kíli was supposed to be. Fíli’s heart leapt again but this time in fear, where had Kíli got to?

A giggle nearby allayed his fears and he pulled himself up and out of the nest.

“Kíli, you shouldn’t be out here by yourself” Fíli told the younger dwarf.

“But I was bored!” Kíli argued spreading his hands and looking up at Fíli innocently.

“That isn’t an excuse” Fíli said “we need to be careful until Mama or Papa come to find us”.

“Okay” Kíli replied dejectedly “will that be soon?” he asked.

“I don’t know” Fíli told him truthfully.

“That’s okay, you’ll take care of me until they do” Kíli said confidently “you’re the bestest big brother”.

Fíli smiled slightly “of course I will, that’s what big brothers are for” he said “now come on, we should start gathering things for supper”.

Kíli froze, the expression on his face telling Fíli that he was scared. Fíli swung around and drew his knife just as an orc swiped at him with it’s weapon. Fíli jumped back wildly and nearly fell into Kíli. He scrambled quickly to his feet and pushed Kíli behind him as the orc grinned wickedly at them.

"What are two young dwarflings doing so far in the woods by themselves?” the orc sniffed the air “you are alone, no others nearby, you must have wanted to be my snack”.

The orc advanced on them and Fíli frantically tried to remember what Dwalin had told him to do when faced with a bigger enemy, he’d never really practiced much, still considered too young to actually start training so he’d only had a couple of quick defense lessons when he’d been given his knife.

He backed up quickly, keeping his little brother firmly behind him. The orc laughed.

“There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide little dwarfling, these woods are filled with my kind. If you are not my snack, then you will be the snack of one of them” the orc stopped moving as it talked, cocking it’s head at them and licking it’s lips.

Fíli shivered in revulsion but then his eyes widened as he remembered that he had seen several dwarves practicing throwing their knifes, if Fíli could do that, if he could throw it so that the orc would be injured enough to not chase them. But he would lose the knife, and if it didn’t work… Fíli didn’t have anymore time to think, the orc had lifted it’s leg to start walking towards them again. Fíli aimed as best as he could and threw the knife.

The orc laughed as the knife clattered harmlessly against it’s armor.

“I guess this means you’re ready to be my snack” it gloated once it had stopped laughing.

Fíli shook his head, he didn’t know what to do, they couldn’t outrun the foul being and he had no other ideas. Kíli whimpered behind him and Fíli gritted his teeth, his brother was not going to be some orc’s snack. His eyes ranged the ground around him and he grinned suddenly as he darted forward and grabbed a large rock. The orc seemed surprised to see him moving towards it so Fíli took full advantage and quickly lobbed the rock straight at it’s head. There was a very satisfying _clunk_  as the rock hit the orc and it’s eyes rolled up as it dropped to the ground. Fíli ran over to his knife and grabbed it. He scooped up a trembling Kíli and began to run. If orcs were roaming the woods than they needed to get out of the woods. He only hoped his family meant it when they said they would find them no matter what. Because Fíli didn’t want to think about what might happen if they didn’t.

 

.


	2. Chapter 2

“It’s been nearly a week Thorin” Dwalin pointed out “we’ve been attacked by three different groups of orcs and we are hopelessly far away from the last traces we found”.

“I am not giving up” Thorin growled.

“Dís deserves to know what little we’ve found” Dwalin countered “besides, we need to check in with Balin, there are others we have a duty to”.

Thorin faltered then came to a complete stop, his face was full of anguish as he turned to Dwalin.

“I can’t believe they’re dead Dwalin, my heart won’t let me believe it, though my head tells me it must be so. How could they have survived this long? On their own and with so many orcs?” Thorin’s voice was full of pain, a pain that Dwalin was sadly familiar with, he’d heard it in Thorin’s voice far too often.

“If they are half as stubborn as their mother or uncle, then they survive yet, but we need rest” Dwalin answered “we also need to start back at the last traces we found, we don’t even know if we’re going in the right direction”.

Thorin nodded in resignation “alright, we will find the others then resume our search”.

 

* * *

 

 

Getting out of the woods may have been a good idea but doing it was something else entirely. Fíli had decided to follow the stream in the hopes that it would eventually get them close enough to the edge of the trees that they could find their way out. And at least by following it they couldn’t get turned around too badly. The stream wasn’t very straight however, and they wandered for nearly three days before it straightened out and finally led them out from beneath the trees.

In this time Fíli had grown increasingly worried about Kíli who had barely spoken since the orc had attacked them, the younger dwarf would cling tightly to his brother’s hand as they walked and he ate whenever Fíli put something in his hands, but his little brother’s normally bright eyes were downcast and he was so quiet that it was eerie.

Fíli bit his lip in frustration, he didn’t know what to do, he was only five years older than Kíli. Where were their parents? Uncle Thorin? Mr. Dwalin or Mr. Balin? Why hadn’t they come yet? Had Fíli messed up the traces? Or could they not come? Had the orcs killed them? There were no answers to his questions and he growled in annoyance. A tiny giggle caused him to look down at his brother in surprise.

“You sounded like Uncle Thorin” Kíli explained.

“Did I?” Fíli asked in bemusement.

“Mmm hmm” Kíli smiled slightly.

The sight raised Fíli’s spirits a little bit and he smiled back.

“Fee, why haven’t Mama and Papa come yet?” Kíli asked suddenly and Fíli felt the smile drop off his face.

“I don’t know Kíli” he admitted.

“I miss them, and Uncle Thorin” Kíli said sadly.

“I do too” Fíli answered “we just have to be patient, I’m sure they will come” he lied.

Kíli shook his head “but what if they don’t?” he asked anxiously.

Fíli shivered, though whether it was due to the chill in the air or his own fears, he couldn’t tell “I don’t know Kíli, but whatever happens, I promise I’ll take care of you”.

“I know you will” Kíli replied “but who will take care of you?” he asked worriedly.

Fíli blinked “I… I’ll just have to take care of myself” he finally said.

“No, that won’t work, you aren’t good at it” Kíli protested “you’re great at taking care of Kílis, not so great at taking care of Fílis. Like this morning, you gave me all the berries, and at lunch when you only ate a few nuts and gave me a whole handful”.

Kíli stopped walking and Fíli paused in confusion as his hand slipped away from his little brother’s. He turned back to Kíli and tried to figure out where this conversation was going. Kíli looked like he was concentrating hard on something and then his face brightened considerably.

“I know! I’ll just have to take care of you! Mr. Dwalin calls you the Kíli Keeper, so I’ll be the Fíli Keeper” he exclaimed happily, obviously pleased with himself for coming up with the idea .

Fíli gaped at the proud little dwarf standing in front of him and then he choked as he tried to hold in a laugh. ‘Get a grip Fíli, you can’t take a statement like that any way other than seriously or you’ll hurt his feelings’ he thought as he tried to control himself. He wheezed slightly for a couple of seconds then calmed down enough to answer.

“I suppose that could work” he agreed simply, smiling widely when Kíli jumped happily and hugged him.

.

.

 

A day later found Fíli and Kíli wandering into another stand of trees, they had continued to follow the stream, more for ease of getting water than anything else. Food was scarce on the plain that they’d found themselves on once they’d cleared the woods. And a biting early winter wind had made finding shelter each night imperative. If he was being truthful with himself, Fíli was finding it harder and harder to believe that they would survive long enough on their own for their family to find them. His hopeless thoughts were interrupted by an excited Kíli.

“Fíli! Fíli look!” Kíli pointed through the trees to where a small house sat. He would have rushed towards it if Fíli hadn’t grabbed his hand quickly.

“Hold on Kíli, we don’t know if whoever lives there is friendly, we need to be careful, okay?” he waited until Kíli had nodded solemnly.

“Okay, we’re going to stay low and sneak up to the house, if I squeeze your hand once that means stop” Fíli told him.

Fíli’s precautions were for nothing though, as they got closer it became obvious that the house was abandoned and in disrepair. Still, Fíli kept Kíli close as he carefully inspected the inside of the house. The thick layer of dust over everything was enough to make both little dwarves sneeze. But the house was fully furnished, there was even a cupboard full of foodstuffs that had long since gone bad. Fíli wondered briefly what could make someone leave everything behind but he got his answer when he climbed up to the small loft. The body of a human lay on the bed, it had obviously been there quite a while and Fíli was glad he had told Kíli to wait downstairs. He covered the body carefully with the blankets from the bed and shimmied back down the ladder. This place would be as good as any to wait for their family, but it desperately needed cleaned first, and he would have to figure out how to get the body outside so he could bury it as he thought, and hoped, that was what men did with their dead. Even if it wasn’t, Fíli couldn’t exactly do anything else so it would have to do.

A rummage in the cupboards to find rags for dusting also yielded a bucket for water and the key to a shed out back. Fíli took a quick look inside and found the shed to be filled with tools except for one wall that had firewood neatly stacked against it. He nodded in satisfaction, this was unlooked for good fortune, they could easily survive here as long as they could find food. After they fetched some water from the stream he set Kíli to dusting the main floor while he found a shovel and began digging a shallow grave, he didn’t really want to sleep in the same house as a dead body if he could help it.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Kíli wrinkled his nose as he tried to sweep the floor, he’d never swept anything before and the broom was so much bigger than him that he had a hard time even holding on to it. But he was determined to take care of Fíli like he had promised, which meant getting their temporary home  clean… well, clean-ish, Kíli had got tired of dusting so he’d only done the bit around the fireplace. He hoped that would be good enough for now. Eventually he gave up on the broom and started using the dust rags on the floor, that worked much better and he had nearly finished cleaning a pathway from the front door to the fireplace when Fíli came in.

“It looks good Kíli” his brother told him as he sat down next to the door.

Kíli smiled happily for a moment but as his eyes swept over his brother he couldn’t fail to notice how tired and dirty Fíli looked. Kíli frowned. He took one of the cleaner rags and rinsed it in some of the water before passing it to his brother.

“Taking care of me?” Fíli took the rag and smiled at Kíli.

Kíli nodded and puffed his small chest out, he was going to be the best Fíli Keeper he could be.

“Thank you” Fíli wiped his face and hands than stood up and looked in the cupboard with the food.

“I doubt any of this is still good enough to eat” he said regretfully “we’ll have to clear it all out, I need to take care of the body upstairs too”.

“How are you going to get it down the ladder?” Kíli asked curiously.

“Well…. I guess I’m going to pull the ladder up and roll it onto the ladder than tip the ladder slowly down until the body slides along it to this floor” Fíli answered “and hope that works because I don’t have any other ideas”.

“Of course it will work!” Kíli exclaimed, sure his brother could do anything “and if it doesn’t than you can just tip the body out of the loft and roll it out the door” he added as an afterthought.

For some reason Fíli grimaced “I don’t think that would be the best thing to do, it’s not very respectful”.

“Well it can’t stay up there” Kíli pointed out.

Fíli nodded “we’ll see Kíli, why don’t you wait outside while I try this, but stay close to the front door”.

 

* * *

 

 

Fíli jumped as the body crashed onto the floor beneath him.

“Well that didn’t work too well” he whispered to himself.

“Fíli?” Kíli’s curious voice came from the doorway.

“It’s alright Kíli, just wait out there” he called back. He set the ladder carefully back into place and climbed down quickly. Rewrapping the blankets around the body he tugged on them and pulled the body out the door. Getting it to the grave and then shoveling the dirt back over it took up most of the rest of the afternoon and Fíli was so tired he could barely eat the small amount of berries he’d managed to scavenge before he fell into an exhausted slumber with Kíli curled up beside him.

.

.

 

The next day dawned bright and cold and Fíli debated on whether it was safe to light a fire. Smoke might give them away to any orcs out there, but then again, contrary to what the orc had told them, they hadn’t seen any other orcs in the woods. Besides, it was cold and only going to get colder. He brought some wood into the house while Kíli carried in handfuls of kindling. A more thorough search around the woods provided berries, nuts, and even some apples. Fíli carefully laid the fire and they curled up in front of it as they munched on the apples and nuts. There was still a cupboard full of rotten food that they needed to get rid of, and someone would have to go for more water soon, and Fíli was pretty sure that he would think of even more things as time went on, but for now they were content to rest.

.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments and kudos!

The sounds of battle clanged in Dís’ memories, the fear when she realized her youngest wasn’t where she had left him, the anger when an orc had struck down the only dwarf she could ever have fallen in love with. Swirls and fragments of past battles tangled with the new horrors and she sobbed into her hands. Why? Why was it always the ones she loved? Why did she lose everyone? She wept unabashedly, knowing tonight would be her only chance for the release of tears, tomorrow she would have to put on her mask and be a responsible leader, be the Princess of Erebor… Erebor, how she missed the safety and security of her old home, not so safe in the end of course. But before Smaug, before the nightmare that her life had become, Erebor had been a much beloved home. A place where she and her brothers had been happy. When Erebor fell she thought she would never find happiness again. But then she had fallen in love, then she had her precious Fíli, then her sweet little Kíli. Happiness had surrounded her for an all too brief amount of time. Hot tears dripped down her cheeks as her thoughts turned to the dreams and plans she’d had for her family. Dreams that could never really come true now.

.

.

Thorin and Dwalin caught up with them the next afternoon. Fíli and Kíli weren’t with them and Dís let her mask slip for just a moment as her brother pulled her into a hug.

“We are not giving up” he whispered in her ear. Her only answer was to hug him just a bit tighter. She knew they wouldn’t, she wouldn’t either, she couldn’t.

 

* * *

 

 

Thorin jolted awake. Something was wrong. He rose to a crouch quickly and drew his sword as he scanned the dark campsite. He couldn’t see anything amiss but he stayed down and made his way quietly to where Dwalin was asleep near him.

“Dwalin” the whisper and a quick tap of Dwalin’s shoulder had the other dwarf alert and drawing his own weapons as Thorin next moved to Balin’s sleeping mat. But Balin was already sitting up.

“We should check with the guards” Thorin whispered. The other two nodded and they separated quickly.

Thorin’s worry only increased as he crept around the edges of the campsite, there were no guards in sight, and no sign of what could have happened to them either. A sound behind him had him turning to face the dark shadows with his sword raised, he relaxed slightly though as the shadows turned into a recognizable dwarf.

“Thorin, what is wrong?” Dís’ quiet voice floated towards him.

“Dís, you need to wake the others, quietly as you can” Thorin ordered “the guards are missing”.

His sister gave him a sharp nod and hurried off as Balin and Dwalin came up from the other end of the campsite.

“Did you find any guards?” Dwalin asked gruffly “because we sure didn’t”.

Thorin shook his head just as a loud scream pierced the night. It came from the direction Dís had gone in and Thorin’s heart leapt into his throat. He would have rushed blindly towards the sound if Dwalin hadn’t grabbed the back of his vest.

“Thorin! Carefully” Balin admonished “what if it is a trap?” he asked.

Thorin gritted his teeth in frustration but he gave a sharp nod as Balin started forward. The three friends moved cautiously forward until they could see the center of the campsite where dwarves were quickly herding the children together and forming a circle around them, beyond the dwarves was a company of orcs and Thorin’s eyes widened as he stopped abruptly. There was no way their tiny group could fight so many.

“We have to get the children to safety” Dwalin said.

“How?” asked Balin “we are outnumbered ten to one, at least”.

“True” Thorin answered “but we have no choice. Balin, you will come with me, we will lead our fighters and try to distract the orcs from those escaping. Dwalin, you must get everyone else to safety” Thorin’s grip on his sword tightened as anger overtook his tone “we are not losing any more of our children because of this filth” he declared.

“Aye” Dwalin agreed softly “I’ll make sure we don’t” he swore.

 

* * *

 

 

Time passed rather faster than Fíli would have thought possible, he and Kíli kept busy with foraging for food and cleaning the small house. Kíli insisted that he had helped Papa enough with drying apples that he knew how to do it so Fíli helped him lay a clean blanket in the sunniest spot in the yard and they laid thin sliced apples on it. Then it was Kíli’s job to turn the apples over and to make sure no birds stole the slices. Meanwhile Fíli had found some traps in the shed and he began to set them up in the hopes of having some meat soon, after all, dwarves really weren’t meant to live off nuts and berries.

The air was a little bit colder each morning so they tried to work fast at getting food ready for winter. Finding such good shelter had raised Fíli’s spirits considerably and he was far more confident that help would come eventually. But still, winter was coming fast and Fíli knew that would slow down any searchers. Best to be prepared.

.

.

The days passed slowly once winter set in. Fíli carefully rationed their food, he knew they were barely eating enough to get by, but they didn’t have any extra to spare if they wanted to make it until the spring. At least with his traps he could catch the occasional bit of meat to fill out their otherwise dull meals.

Kíli was content to stay inside most days, he would invent the most ridiculous games for them to play and, just for a couple of hours, Fíli would be able to forget that he was anything other than a child.

Of course, later, he would think that he should have known that it couldn’t last. The day the orcs attacked was the day that Kíli had pressed his nose to the window that morning and declared it spring.

“It’s warm...ish” he argued with Fíli when his older brother told him that it was still too cold to play outside.

Fíli would never admit it, but he would be forever grateful for Kíli’s puppy dog eyes that day, he didn’t really have the heart to say no to them. So they had bundled up as warmly as possible and Kíli had insisted on packing a picnic lunch.

“It is far too cold to eat outside” Fíli had protested to no avail. Kíli had just told him that they could come home and eat it if they had to, but they were having a picnic. Fíli wasn’t sure what the point of lugging the pail around with them was when they would definitely be coming home to eat it. But the younger dwarf had that look in his eye that Fíli had come to recognize as Kíli being, as he called it, the Fíli Keeper. It was no use arguing with him when he got like that for Kíli had proven himself as stubborn as his uncle Thorin, and maybe even as stubborn as his mama, at least when it came to his “duties” in taking care of Fíli anyway.

The first sign of something wrong was the scent of smoke that wafted towards them from the direction of their house. Kíli and his brother were playing tag but both dwarves stopped running as the scent reached them.

“Kíli” Fíli called, his voice low. He made a sharp gesture and Kíli hurried to his brother’s side.

“I need to check the house” said Fíli “you stay here with the pail, and hide. Be very quiet if you hear someone coming. If it’s me and it’s safe I’ll whistle for you, that birdcall that Papa taught us”.

 

* * *

 

 

Kíli watched anxiously as his brother crept away from him. Then he tugged the pail with him towards a small clump of bushes, he had hid there earlier when he and Fíli had been playing hide and seek, and Fíli hadn’t been able to find him. It seemed like a good place to go now.

It seemed like forever to Kíli before he heard the sound of someone coming, he didn’t need the absence of a whistle to tell him it wasn’t his brother. Harsh grunts and the slapping of large feet on the ground caused him to scoot even farther back into the greenery of the bushes. He peeked out carefully and tried to be quiet when he saw three of the same beings that had attacked his family before. Fíli had explained to him that they were orcs, Kíli had heard stories about orcs. Actually, they were almost always the bad guys in any story that had bad guys, Kíli supposed that meant they were really bad, he pressed a hand to his mouth and hoped they intended to run by him. Instead one of them stopped right in front of his bushes and he shrank into himself as much as he could.

“I need a break” the orc in front of him growled.

“Agreed” the smallest of the orcs said, he was obviously out of breath.

The largest of the orcs snarled at them “we have to find those little brats”.

“Yeah yeah” the orc in front of the bushes said and waved a hand at the biggest orc “why though? What’s the big deal if two little dwarf brats get away. What can they do to stop our master’s plans anyway?”.

“It isn’t our place to question our orders” the biggest orc growled in annoyance.

“He’s got a point though” the little orc argued “His almightiness, that dwarf king is dead, so is all his ilk. We killed them all that night”.

“Maybe so” the bigger orc answered “but our orders were to kill all of the Durin line, that includes Thorin’s nephews and they’ve escaped us. Our master won’t be happy about that and I don’t want to be the one to tell him”.

Kíli was glad he’d covered his mouth as he whimpered slightly. Was Uncle Thorin dead? What about Mama and Papa? Mr. Balin and Mr. Dwalin? All of Kíli’s friends? Surely he’d misheard. No one could bring down Mama or Uncle Thorin… could they? The little dwarf blinked back tears, he wanted Fíli, where was Fíli?

“How are we going to find them anyway?” the littlest orc continued arguing “we’ve no idea where they could be, that old house might be where they were holed up but that stupid Sarzerg burned it to the ground, and we can smell the smoke all the way out here”.

“Guess we could start beating the bushes and see what pops out” the orc in front of Kíli answered with a laugh. He brought one great hand down on the bush then jumped back in surprise when Kíli’s face was revealed.

“Grab him!” the little orc shrieked. The biggest orc pushed past his bumfuzzled compatriot and reached for Kíli.

Kíli yelled as he swung the pail as hard as he could and hit the big orc on the shin. The orc let out a bellow and Kíli took his chance, running between the two bigger orcs he swung the pail again, this time at the littlest orc, catching it in the stomach. It curled up on itself and Kíli might have been able to get away if two more orcs hadn’t come barreling from the direction of the house, he ran right into one of them and it scooped him up in it’s arms.

“Stop struggling little snack” the orc leered at him.

“Let go of my brother!” Fíli’s voice made Kíli struggle all the harder and when Fíli stabbed the orc in the foot with his knife it yowled and dropped Kíli on top of Fíli’s head. Fíli shot back to his feet and grabbed at Kíli.

“Run Kíli” he ordered.

The orcs began to converge on them and two of them drew their bows. Arrows thudded into the ground beside Kíli and he yelped.

“Just keep going” his brother urged him on. More arrows and a thud that, somehow, Kíli could feel caused him to look worriedly at Fíli. His older brother let out a pained gasp and stumbled as his face paled.

“Fee?” he asked worriedly.

“Just keep going” Fíli said “no matter what Kíli, you have to keep going”.

 

.


	4. Chapter 4

Legolas crouched near the edge of Mirkwood, he was tense and on high alert, there had been far too many reports of orcs wandering near the borders of his home. He and the rest of his patrol had driven off two different groups just that morning. He had sent the patrol after the last group since they had fled along the tree line rather than being smart and running as far from Mirkwood as they could get. Thranduil’s anger would be something to behold if orcs actually set foot in his kingdom. Legolas smirked a bit at that thought but a moment later his face smoothed and he cocked his head, yes, he definitely heard a rustle. He had his bow ready in a trice and he aimed it towards the sounds which were slowly coming closer. His brow furrowed in confusion, it didn’t sound like an orc, too small. He lowered his bow as a new sound joined the rustling, it sounded like a child crying.

Legolas wasn’t sure who was more shocked when a tiny dwarf stumbled out of the bushes in front of the elf. The little creature’s expression might have been funny under other circumstances, with it’s mouth hanging open and it’s eyes almost comically wide.

Legolas felt frozen, he didn’t exactly have much experience with children, what did you even say to one? The little dwarf complicated matters when it got over it’s shocked silence and burst into noisy tears. Legolas shook himself out of his stupor and knelt next to the dwarf.

“Don’t cry little one” he held out a hand to the dwarf “I mean you no harm”.

“I can’t find Fíli!” the little thing babbled “he was right beside me then he wasn’t, and he’s hurt, and I can’t take care of him! I’m a terrible Fíli Keeper”.

Legolas blinked, was that supposed to make sense?

“I don’t understand” he admitted “who is this Fíli? And why are the two of you wandering in Mirkwood?”

“Fíli is my brother, we lost our family…” the dwarf trailed off “well, the orcs said they were dead, but orcs lie sometimes, right?” it asked but didn’t wait for an answer “and one of them shot Fíli” it sniffled “and then I lost him! He was right beside me, how did I lose him?” it asked, this time it paused long enough for Legolas to speak.

“Mirkwood can be a dangerous place to wander even when you are familiar with it’s foibles” Legolas told it “but come, I am sure we can find your brother”.

The dwarf stopped it’s crying “really?” it asked hopefully.

“Yes” Legolas answered firmly, he was hoping to avoid any more tears and was gratified when the small dwarf’s face brightened and it eagerly took his hand and tugged.

“Come on then” it said eagerly.

“First though, may I ask your name?” Legolas inquired, he didn’t want to keep calling the thing an “it” in his thoughts.

“Kíli” the dwarf offered.

“Kíli” Legolas nodded “I am Legolas”.

Legolas swept his eyes over the ground beyond Kíli.

“We’ll start by going back the way you came” he told Kíli and the little dwarf nodded at him.

“Can you make Fíli better when we find him?” Kíli asked quietly.

“I am afraid that I am not especially good at the healing arts” Legolas started “but my father is an excellent healer” he hastened to add as Kíli’s lip trembled.

“Do not worry little one, your brother will be fine” he finished. Kíli perked up and Legolas hoped that he hadn’t just lied to him, but there was nothing for it, a crying dwarf child would make it even harder to find this Fíli, and Legolas had a feeling that he needed to find the other dwarf quickly.

 

* * *

 

 

Fíli shivered “cold, cold is bad right? Or is it heat that’s bad?” he mumbled, he didn’t know much about healing, certainly nothing about arrow wounds but he’d spent some time around Óin who was a healer and he knew that he knew _some_ things, but he couldn’t seem to actually remember them. “And that can’t be a good sign” he muttered.

At least Kíli hadn’t been injured, on the other hand, Fíli had no idea where his little brother was now. They’d lost each other several hours before and if Fíli was his normal self he would’ve have torn the woods apart until he found Kíli. As it was he could barely manage to stay sitting upright, let alone move around enough to find Kíli.

“Please be okay” he whispered as he shivered violently.

.

.

 

The sun was setting when Fíli woke abruptly from a troubled and pain-filled sleep. The sound of footsteps caused him to scrunch down flat against the ground and he winced but managed to hold in the groan that threatened to escape him. He couldn’t see much from his new position but moving again wasn’t an option.

“Those brats have to be around here somewhere” a familiar voice said from a ways behind Fíli and the young dwarf felt his eyes widen, he knew the dwarf that was speaking, it was Thirnar. Was he here to find Fíli and Kíli? But why would he call them brats? That didn’t make sense. But it made sense that Thirnar would be looking for them for Thirnar was a warrior, one of the best warriors, and he was friends with Uncle Thorin and Dwalin. Surely he was here to help. Fíli opened his mouth to call out but stifled his voice suddenly when he heard another familiar voice, the voice of the filthy orc that had grabbed Kíli.

“Maybe, but I’m not going into the wood, those elves aren’t the only thing to fear in there” the orc answered, his voice slowly coming closer to Fíli’s hiding place.

“Aye Othrod, can’t argue with that one” Thirnar agreed “but I sure would love a piece of that elf king, he’s a coward for abandoning us dwarves when we most needed him and his blasted elves”.

Othrod grunted “who cares now, Thorin’s nephews are your only problem that’s left, once they’re gone…” he trailed off with a sickly satisfied tone to his voice.

Thirnar chuckled “both your leader and mine will be quite pleased. Frankly I expected it to be more difficult to kill Thorin and Dís than to kill her brats. But we’ll catch them soon enough”.

Fíli shook slightly as he tried to hold in his grief ‘dead, they’re all really dead’ he thought. Anger choked out his grief as Thirnar continued talking to his orc _friend_ . Fíli sneered, Thirnar would pay for his crimes, so would anyone else who had dared to betray _his_ family and friends, he vowed this silently. He just needed to make sure he survived, he had to survive, and find Kíli. No one was going to hurt his brother, Fíli had made that vow long ago but he closed his eyes and renewed it quietly to himself. He and Kíli were going to survive, they would find a way to train and become warriors, and no one would dare come after them or their loved ones again. Fíli clenched his fists as Othrod walked ever closer to him, he would fight him now if he had to, though he knew he would lose.

“Stay still little one” a voice came from his left and he jerked his head around to see an elf, a red-haired elf with bright eyes and a smile that matched her gentle tone.

“I will drive them off the moment they come a step farther into the Mirkwood, then my little dwarfling, I will look at that wound of your’s” the elf continued as she pulled her bow and aimed carefully. Fíli watched in satisfaction as Othrod’s body thudded to the ground right in front of him and Thirnar howled as he took off running with the red-haired elf giving chase.

.

“Did you catch him?” Fíli asked when the elf returned.

“No” she shook her head “I could not chase him past our borders and he was wily enough to avoid my arrows”.

Fíli nodded, Thirnar was still on his list then, might not be such a bad thing since he was the only link Fíli had to whoever else had betrayed them.

“My name is Tauriel” the elf introduced herself as she knelt down beside Fíli, she waited for his nod of assent then pressed her hand lightly against the rag he’d used to bind his wound. Dizzying pain shot through him and he gasped as his anger and purpose faded away to be replaced with a coldness and more pain than he could handle.

 

* * *

 

 

Tauriel caught the little dwarf as he fell forward and gathered him into her arms.

“Tauriel!” Legolas’ voice stopped her from running straight to Thranduil.

“Legolas, we have no time, this dwarfling is gravely injured” she started “my leg is still injured from those orcs that attacked us a few days ago, you must carry him to King Thranduil” she turned to him and paused as she saw another small dwarf standing behind the elf prince. The little dwarf was dark-haired rather than the blond of the dwarfling in her arms, but there was no doubt that they were related.

“Fíli?” the little dwarf called, he visibly wilted when the other dwarf didn’t even stir. Tauriel looked to Legolas who nodded at her.

“I will take him” he said “you must escort young Kíli here at a slower pace”. The prince turned to his companion.

“Kíli, I promised you that your brother would be fine, I meant that” he said it with such assurance that even Tauriel could have almost believed him, if only she hadn’t seen just how bad Fíli’s wound was. Legolas wasted no more time in taking Fíli from her and disappearing into the trees.

.

.

 

Kíli slept fitfully on the small cot they’d set up in the hall outside Fíli’s door, he’d hardly left that spot since Tauriel had carefully placed him there after their long walk nearly two days before. The elf sighed quietly, the king himself had indeed come to Fíli’s side, Tauriel had faith in Thranduil’s abilities but she didn’t understand what was taking so long, it was a simple arrow wound… wasn’t it? She had begun to wonder but she didn’t want to voice those thoughts around Kíli who had retreated into himself, he wouldn’t speak to anyone and would only accept food from Legolas. His… distrust? Tauriel wasn’t sure what to call it, whatever it was hurt her more than it should. Perhaps because she hadn’t around many children but these two dwarflings affected her more than she would’ve thought possible.

Legolas came out of Fíli’s room and Tauriel stood quickly. Legolas smiled at her but didn’t speak until he was beside Kíli, the little dwarf had awoken and sat up with an apprehensive look on his face.

“It’s alright Kíli, your brother will live, if you wish to see him then you can but just for a few minutes” Legolas told Kíli. He took the dwarf’s hand and led him into the room as Tauriel smiled in relief. She didn’t know what would have happened to Kíli without his brother, but she thought it wouldn’t be good, Kíli seemed to rely heavily on Fíli. That thought caused her to frown, she had wondered several times where the children’s parents were, or other family perhaps. She shrugged the thought off, Thranduil would take care of finding them, or finding a place for Fíli and Kíli to live. She was sure he would be fair but her heart ached slightly at the thought that she probably wouldn’t get to see them again once they left.

 

* * *

 

 

Legolas shook his head “no Father, we cannot just abandon Fíli and Kíli, they have nowhere to go that is safe” he said fiercely “have you forgotten that there was a dwarf among those orcs that were hunting them?”.

“I am not talking about abandoning them” Thranduil huffed from his throne “nor have I forgotten anything, but they have no place here, if they truly are the heirs of Thorin like the youngest told you then the best thing we can do is send them to Dain, he is their kin after all”.

“But is Dain trustworthy?” Legolas asked grimly “we don’t know which dwarf to trust”

“No dwarf is trustworthy in my eyes” Thranduil retorted thoughtlessly.

“And yet you would send defenceless children to someone you don’t trust?” Legolas snapped “if no dwarf is trustworthy than that just proves my point, they are better off here, with us, where we know they are safe”.

“You are thinking emotionally Legolas” Thranduil answered “what would Dain gain from killing Thorin and his heirs? And besides, what happens if Dain, or any other dwarf, finds out that we have kept Thorin’s orphaned heirs from their kin? Would you invite war to our home so easily?”.

Legolas sighed and met Thranduil’s eyes with his own, he wasn’t sure how to answer the first point but the second was easy to rebut “Father, war might come if they knew, but it is very unlikely that any dwarf would ever come to our home. Therefore it is equally unlikely that they would ever know and that Dain would foolishly choose to send his troops against us”.

Legolas shook his head “you simply don’t want them to stay so you are making excuses” he accused.

Thranduil sniffed “all I am saying is that they would likely be better off with others of their own kind”.

“You don’t want us here?” a small voice interrupted Legolas’ angry reply, he turned quickly to see Kíli standing by the partially open door.

“I simply think that you would be better elsewhere” Thranduil addressed the small dwarf.

Kíli shook his head and ran to Legolas “Leggylas, don’t let him send us away. Fíli needs someone to take care of him, you said your father was the best healer” he looked up at Legolas pleadingly.

“Child, I do not intend to send you away tonight” Thranduil said, exasperation clear in his tone.

Legolas ignored him and knelt by Kíli “you and Fíli are not going anywhere, this will be your home for as long as you wish it” he told him.

“Legolas! That is not your decision” Thranduil remonstrated.

Legolas likely would have said something very angrily, and gotten into quite a bit of trouble, if Kíli hadn’t patted his face then.

“It’s okay Leggylas, Fíli and I have gotten used to taking care of ourselves, we’ll be fine” he said rather sadly “you shouldn’t argue with your father, I miss my father, I wish he was here” Kíli’s eyes were filled with tears but he dashed them away and stood up as straight as he could when he turned to Thranduil.

“Of course we’ll do whatever you think is best” he said “Fíli says you have to be wise to be a king, so you must be almost as wise as Balin, and he’d know the right thing to do, so I trust that you do as well”.

 

* * *

 

 

Thranduil blinked, he tried to answer but ended up clearing his throat instead, the little dwarf in front of him was staring at him with trusting eyes even as it stood so proudly in it’s place, so sure of itself, and so sure that Thranduil knew what to do.

Thranduil glanced at his son, odd that Kíli reminded him a little of Legolas, with his proud bearing and utter belief in Thranduil’s wisdom… well, that latter point didn’t apply to Legolas as much now as it did even a few years ago, but still.

It was obvious that Legolas was still angry at him, his jaw was clenched and he held himself rigidly, Thranduil wasn’t sure how Legolas could have gotten so attached to two small dwarf children so quickly, but he had and now Thranduil had to decide what was best. Legolas was right though, they didn’t know who to trust. But also, they couldn’t be completely sure that Thorin and his sister were dead, if they weren’t, well that would at least solve the problem of trustworthiness (not that Thranduil thought Thorin was trustworthy in most aspects, but Thorin had earned a reputation of being very protective of his people, that surely extended to his own family). Thranduil sighed, not much liking what he was about to say.

“We need to make sure the orc was telling the truth” he started “once we have done that, if your immediate family is truly dead, then you and your brother may choose to stay here if that is what you want, or I will find some elves to escort you to your cousin Dain’s kingdom” Thranduil’s eyes strayed from Kíli to Legolas and he was gratified to see his son’s jawline soften as Legolas nodded approvingly at him. The dwarf brightened considerably.

“I thank you King Thranduil” he said formally before abandoning all formality by throwing himself at Thranduil and clambering up in his lap “thank you” he whispered as he hugged a shocked Thranduil. Thranduil shook himself slightly, the warmth of Kíli’s hug was hard to resist but he managed it and just patted the little dwarf’s head. He avoided looking directly at Legolas but he just knew that his son would be trying to hide a grin at the sight of the elvenking being hugged by a dwarf of all things. Still, if Legolas got too smug Thranduil could always remind him that Kíli’s way of saying his name made it sound like the dwarf was calling the elf a “leggy lass”. Thranduil really hoped Kíli would say that in front of Tauriel, she’d never stop teasing Legolas with it.

Thranduil smiled slightly as Kíli snuggled against him, maybe having two little dwarf children around wouldn’t be _too_ terrible, might even have some advantages.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kudos and the kind comments! Here is the last chapter of this fic.

“I told you before young Fíli, you cannot get up for any length of time, not yet” Thranduil rubbed his forehead and sighed in exasperation, Fíli was a very stubborn dwarf, and to complicate matters, his brother was a very _cuddly_ dwarf. Thranduil hadn’t had a break since the pair had come into his home nearly a month ago, if he wasn’t arguing with Fíli then he was trying to fend off Kíli’s hugs, he wasn’t sure how he became Kíli’s default person to hug, probably had something to do with Legolas not being around. Thranduil reflected that, just possibly, he should forbid his son from going on any more long trips. Still, it had made sense at the time to send him on the search for Fíli and Kíli’s family.

“I’m bored” Fíli complained “besides, who is looking after Kíli?” he asked.

“There is no shortage of willing Kíli watchers, he is quite popular around here” Thranduil commented drily “and as I told you before, your injury was bad enough, add in the fact that the arrow was poisoned, and you are lucky you are alive to complain”.

Fíli shrank back into his pillows “I’m sorry” he whispered ashamedly “I don’t want you to think I’m not grateful, it’s just that I don’t like Kíli being away from me for so long” he admitted quietly, looking down at his hands.

Thranduil relented “alright, I’ll get Kíli to come in here for a while, the two of you can play _quietly_ for a bit” he made sure to stress the ‘quietly’ although he knew Kíli would need that reminder more than Fíli, the blond dwarf was already beginning to droop from arguing with the elvenking.

“I suggest you nap until I return with your brother, you still need plenty of rest” Thranduil tucked the blanket more firmly around Fíli then went in search of the errant hugger. Kíli should have been in the kitchens as one of the assistant cooks had volunteered to watch him for the day, but of course the little dwarf couldn’t be where he was supposed to be. Thranduil briefly considered sending someone else to look for him, but some small part of him could admit, just to himself of course, that he rather enjoyed spending time with Kíli. Anyway, he hadn’t actually seen the young dwarf yet that day and it _was_ his duty to make sure both his young guests were well taken care of. At least that would be his excuse if anyone dared to comment, not that anyone would since Legolas wasn’t around.

He found the young dwarf in one of the flower gardens. Kíli was sitting right on the path and talking to a butterfly that was perched carefully on the palm of his outstretched hand. Thranduil paused, not quite willing to interrupt.

“I know now that butterflies don’t have houses, Fíli says you don’t need them” Kíli told the butterfly.

“I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t know that before or the orcs might have got me” Kíli paused “Butterfly, do you know if someone can tell that they’re growing up? I don’t mean like growing taller or growing a beard, I mean like I feel a lot older now than I did then. It wasn’t that long ago, but it seems like forever. And I can’t rely on Mama and Papa or Uncle Thorin anymore, it was just Fíli for a while, but you know he doesn’t know how to take care of himself very well so I had to make sure he didn’t give me all the food or more of the blankets than I needed” Kíli shook his head “Fíli grew up quickly, I know that. He really does remind me of Uncle Thorin a lot”. Kíli sighed and slumped down. “I’m tired Butterfly, and I’m sure Fíli is too, I hope Leggylas finds our family, but I don’t think he will. So if he doesn’t, I hope we really can stay here, Thranduil is nice, though his name is too long and grand, but he gives great hugs, they’re almost as warm as Papa’s! And Leggylas is nice, I wonder if he’d teach me to shoot a bow? I’d like to know how to protect Fíli and me”.

The little blue butterfly fluttered up from Kíli’s hand and lightly touched his nose before settling back into Kíli’s palm. Kíli giggled.

“You’re right” he told Butterfly “I should probably wait until I’m big enough to actually hold one, even a dwarf-sized bow would be too big for me right now, I’m going to grow big and tall and strong though, see if I don’t” he declared.

Thranduil sighed quietly as Kíli continued chattering. Even if he’d truly wanted to, it would be hard to send Fíli and Kíli away after hearing some of the things they had to say. They were children, young even to the youngest elf in the wood, let alone Thranduil. But they didn’t always sound like children, Thranduil didn’t know what all they’d been through or seen, but the small paternal part of him that had insisted on taking in Tauriel was just as insistent that these little dwarf children should stay here, stay safe. He scoffed lightly.

“You’re beginning to sound like a sentimental fool” he whispered to himself. Tauriel at least could pretend to belong here, Fíli and Kíli never could. Thranduil wondered suddenly if either of them knew how close they now were to their ancestral home, would they want to reclaim it when they grew up? His thoughts swirled as he remembered how the mountain and the town had both fallen when the dragon had come. Fire. He shuddered at the thought. So much fire and death. Thranduil would never admit to anyone that he felt those deaths, he knew he could have saved some of them, but then his own armies might have fallen. And they would not have defeated the dragon, of _that_ he was sure. He seldom felt guilt over the decision, painful as it had been, his own people had to come first. It was his job as king to protect them. Looking at Kíli now though, he wondered if he could make the same decision again. Here was a real dwarf that he was already beginning to care about, could he choose duty over his heart? He could, he knew with a cold detachment that he could and would, at least right now, but in the future? And of course Legolas might make that choice for him. His hotheaded son would be right there by Fíli and Kíli if they ever chose to return to the mountain. Legolas, his one true weakness, but if the dwarf children clawed their way further into his heart? He would have three weaknesses to worry over, and any one of them would be cause for him to reconsider whether his duty was worth it.

He was staring unseeing ahead of him so when Kíli tugged on his cloak he nearly jumped in surprise.

“What is it?” he asked sharply.

“You looked lost” Kíli answered simply.

Thranduil knelt down next to him “and how, little dwarf, could I be lost in my own gardens?” he asked.

Kíli shook his head “that’s not what I meant” he answered “but you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. Mr. Balin says that when a dwarf looks like that it’s because he’s seen too much and talking might help, but it might not too, depends on the dwarf. I wasn’t supposed to bother a dwarf when they looked like that, but you’re not a dwarf and Butterfly thought it would be alright for me to see if you were okay”.

Thranduil shook his head “your Mr. Balin sounds wise, but Butterfly was right, it is alright to speak to me when I have that look about me. Just know that my tongue may be sharper than usual if you do” he warned.

“Come, your brother wants to see you” he said standing back up. There was no sense worrying about the future just yet. He’d wait until it was sure that they were staying, then he would begin laying his own plans.

 

* * *

 

 

Legolas grit his teeth as Tauriel stitched the small wound in his arm, he was berating himself silently for getting wounded in the first place. They would have been home by now if he hadn’t decided to chase after a group of orcs that had crossed their path. If he was being honest, he supposed he simply didn’t want to be the one to tell Fíli and Kíli that their family was dead. Finding that band of dwarf travelers headed towards the Blue Mountains had been a stroke of good luck, until they had discovered that entire group was in mourning for their leader and his kin. Legolas felt slightly guilty for not saying anything about Fíli and Kíli, but their safety had to come first.

“There are an awful lot of orcs about” Tauriel remarked, interrupting his thoughts.

“They must still be looking for Fíli and Kíli” Legolas answered absently mindedly.

“Why though?” Tauriel asked “why would those innocent dwarflings be hunted by both orcs and their own kind? It does not make sense to me”.

“Fíli would be king of Erebor if the mountain could be reclaimed” Legolas pointed out as he focussed on his friend’s words “I can actually see why a dwarf might want them dead, especially if that dwarf intended to return to Erebor and claim it’s treasures, even more could I see it if that dwarf was King Dain who would then be King under the Mountain”.

“There is still the dragon” Tauriel protested “any dwarf who would go against a dragon just for some treasure or a title is insane”.

“True. And it is hard to get around that point, in my opinion anyway, but who knows how a dwarf might think” Legolas remarked “possibly someone is playing a long game in anticipation of being able to take the mountain later”.

“Possibly” Tauriel agreed “but what of the orcs?”.

“Perhaps they’ve been offered a share of the treasure?” Legolas suggested.

“Perhaps we should find out?” Tauriel raised a questioning eyebrow at the other elf and he grinned suddenly.

“Perhaps we should” he agreed “after all, we wouldn’t want to return to the Mirkwood with nothing”.

“Indeed” Tauriel agreed.

 

* * *

 

 

Bofur kept his head down as he crept through the shadows and into the small inn, no need for word to get out that there was a dwarf about. The innkeeper had promised them privacy, and he was a trustworthy chap according to Dwalin, but that didn’t stop Bofur from feeling nervous about the whole thing. Hiding in plain sight was all well and good he supposed, but it felt odd. He knocked on the door and Balin let him in.

“Good to see you laddie” Dwalin said from his place by the fireplace, the room was empty except for the two brothers and Bofur shook his head sorrowfully as he remembered just how many had been killed by the orcs.

“You as well, I’m sorry to hear about those we lost” Bofur answered solemnly.

“Aye, it is a sad time indeed” Balin declared.

“Have you any news?” Dwalin asked abruptly.

“Oh, yes” Bofur removed his hat and twisted it between his hands “I spoke to Vhul and he said that two elves had come asking questions about Thorin. Like they wanted to know if he was dead, and what about his kin, things like that”.

“Elves?” Balin asked in confusion.

“That doesn’t make any sense, why would they care?” Dwalin came to stand by Bofur “are you sure Bofur? They weren’t just being curious or something?”.

“No, not according to Vhul, they weren’t very subtle at all” Bofur replied “they even asked after the lady Dís by name”.

“Oh surely the elves aren’t in on this too” Balin groaned “we already have orcs and a traitorous dwarf or two… or more!”.

Bofur shrugged “I don’t know”.

The door to the adjoining bedroom was pushed open.

“Bofur, good to see you” a dwarf stepped into the room and Bofur smiled a bit in relief, he’d known Thorin and Dís weren't really dead, but it sure helped to see it with his own eyes.

“Not half as good as it is to see you” he told Thorin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sequel will be out soon! I'm just breaking this story into more manageable sections because I've never wrote anything this long before (it's a bit daunting!). Anyway, this isn't anywhere near the end.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
